James Vowles Shares Hilarious Moment With Lewis Hamilton On Toto Wolff's Driving

Saajan Jogia | Aug 17, 2024

May 2, 2024; Miami Gardens, Florida, USA; Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton (44) during a press conference in advance of the Miami Grand Prix at the Miami International Autodrome. Mandatory Credit: John David Mercer-USA TODAY Sports / John David Mercer-USA TODAY Sports

In a conversation about a potential team principal showdown, Williams team principal James Vowles chose not to release footage of Lewis Hamilton playfully laughing at him and Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff over their driving skills during a track outing. Vowles also shared insights from his racing career, including a memorable experience in the Asian Le Mans Series, where he gained a deeper understanding of a racing driver's mindset.

The 45-year-old team boss transitioned from his role as Mercedes motorsport strategy director to head Williams in 2023 and has a notable racing background of his own. In 2021, while Mercedes and Red Bull were fiercely competing on the track, Vowles explored GT racing, drawing from his promising early career in the UK saloon car club scene. Speaking about the experience, he told F1.com:

“I won my class in the saloon championship, so that’s not a bad feat – a good tick to the CV.

“Then I had the opportunity to get into GT4 and GT3 racing in ’21 and ’22, and ’23 was a little bit of it as well. When you win that, it’s serious. Now you’re talking serious money, serious investment, serious races as well. I loved it!

“There were a few teams that very much looked after me and a few manufacturers that very much looked after me, but it was a mutual relationship. I was able to bring something [from my experience in the F1 world] that others weren’t, which was an understanding of the engineering, the data and the strategy as well, to a certain extent.”

Down the line, he got the opportunity to race for the Garage 59 team, piloting a McLaren 720S in the 2022 Asian Le Mans Series. His experiences racing through the pitch-black night in Dubai and navigating the conditions in Abu Dhabi provided him with deep insights into the mindset of a racing driver. He added:

“Here’s what it is... You feel alone in the car, really alone. Your visual of the world is what’s happening 200 meters in front of you and 200 meters behind you, if you’re lucky. So, you’re reliant on a voice, an engineer, to give you insight into the world at all times. I’m not of the skill and caliber anywhere near any of these individuals in the paddock, so I doubted myself. When you’re doing this, you would do.

“You have to earn your wings and you have to earn your place. A very particular moment came in Abu Dhabi when I went out with new tires, in equivalent conditions to a number of other teams, and I did a lap time that was as fast as my teammate on the other side of the garage, who’s a really strong racer. I didn’t know that at the time… All I realized on track was that I wasn’t being overtaken.

“I came back in and it was celebration from the team, because it was a switch moment. It’s only when you come back in again that you realize, actually, you are in the right place, you do have the ability, and that’s what being a racing driver is. You are so reliant on your belief in yourself that you do need others to provide you that strength, because you’ll lose it at times.”

Despite the intense racing experience, Vowles shared an encounter with Wolff and Hamilton, when the trio headed out in a car in Austin, with the seven-time world champion poking fun at the two for their driving skills. The topic came up when discussing a potential team principal race, considering Wolff's and Red Bull team principal Christian Horner's racing pasts. Not to forget McLaren CEO Zak Brown's affirmation on social media for a team boss race. Vowles revealed:

“I am all for it [team principal race].

“I think it would be fascinating. As you can probably imagine, Toto and myself have had a few opportunities on the track together, and it’s been so much fun. On one occasion in Austin Lewis [Hamilton] was there as well, and I can’t release the footage to you, but all you hear is him laughing inside the car.

“I think with the accolades that Toto has behind him, that Christian has behind him, that Zak has behind him… You’d have great fun. I think I’d have a good run of it. What’s going to happen, though, is it’s going to be carnage. You realize that none of those cars will come back with four wheels… If you think it’s competitive racing [in F1], watch this!”

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